


Everything is Red, his speech, his lips, his coat

by little_but_fierce



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, American AU, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-09-08 13:13:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8846437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little_but_fierce/pseuds/little_but_fierce
Summary: Junior year of college is starting and Grantaire is trying to balance school, his job, and Les Amis de l'ABC meetings. This is that year.





	1. His fanaticism was not art

"C'mon, tell us!!" Courfeyrac is saying, in his trademark non-indoor voice.

"Tell us what?" Grantaire asks as he enters the back room at the Musain, surprised to see that the Les Amis de l'ABC meeting hadn't started yet since he was arriving a little late. He worked a late afternoon shift on Thursdays and it ended when the meeting started. He was only ten minutes late since the Musain was right off of campus and he worked at the university bookstore.

At hearing Grantaire's voice, Enjolras' head snapped up and he immediately turned a light shade of crimson, his fair skin betraying him, as it often did.

"Nothing," Enjolras says a little too quickly.

"Wrong," smirks Courfeyrac. "We've been trying to get him to tell us what this new secret job he got is."

"Job?" asks Grantaire, showing his surprise in his voice. Everyone knows that Enjolras comes from money (though if you mention it he will shoot you a look that will make your balls return to their pre-pubescent state) and that he begrudgingly lets his parents pay for his schooling. As he has explained many times before, he intends to use his privilege to help better society and he has such a convincing speech he gives when explaining how this makes sense that no one ever dares point out that sometimes he may come off as a bit of a hypocrite. Well, Grantaire has no problem reminding him. Repeatedly. Although he only lightly teases him as Grantaire also comes from money and knows firsthand what it is to make decisions based on being financially-controlled.

"Why would you need another job?" Grantaire asks, more intently.

Enjolras, in an effort to look less like a trust-fund baby, has a job working for the Musain a few nights a week. It is how he was able to get use of the backroom for their bi-weekly meetings.

He also works for the student newspaper, with the goal of being editor next year, and he has interned for two different Republican senators the last two summers. His reasoning for those baffled by that decision is that learning about your opponents from the inside is the best way to discover how to defeat them. Not that he has to work hard to fit in. Anyone who meets Enjolras immediately believes him to be…well, what his parents are. He has that WASP look about him like he spends his summers on yachts ("I wore boat shoes one time!") and attends the young Republican meetings.

Enjolras is tall, blond, and blue-eyed, with fair skin that tans easily in the summer (which Grantaire doesn't notice at all). He has an easy confidence (and those close to him would never tell you that it waivers) and speaks with conviction that commands attention. He doesn't ever reveal to his summer employers his true beliefs, which means he is privy to some truly terrible conversations that are not meant for outside people to hear. His friends know this because they get random emails or messages from Enjolras, "You would NEVER BELIEVE what those motherfu…" Enjolras rarely swears, he prefers to get his message across differently, but even he gets so frustrated from time to time that he needs "Grantaire-type language”, to make a point.

It is early in the fall semester, so Enjolras has the last bit of his summer glow, which is not actually at all distracting to Grantaire. It is their first official meeting for the start of the school year and the Les Amis were scattered across the country for the summer, so the meeting was delayed a little as everyone has been catching up.

"I thought your parents paid for your school and housing?" Grantaire continues.

Enjolras sighs, clearly not wanting to share what he is about to, but knows that eventually everyone will find out anyway.

"Well, they are paying for my schooling," Enjolras says with contempt in his voice. He has had the argument in his head multiple times about completely rejecting his parents' assistance, but ultimately knows it would be the wrong choice. He will be able to accomplish more with an education.

"And your housing…?" asks Grantaire, not missing the lack of words in Enjolras' answer.

Enjolras pauses, visibly appearing like he is trying to calm down before he speaks. This is a rare occurrence for him so it takes a bit of effort.

"They won't pay for it because they don't approve of my new living situation," he huffs out.

During freshman year, Enjolras had lived in a dorm. He was paired with Combeferre and they instantly became best friends. Courfeyrac lived down the hall and his roommate was Marius and by the end of the first week, they were an established foursome. The next year they had gotten apartments right off campus, each pairing with their dorm roommate, but it had been too expensive for Courfeyrac and so they had decided on a new living situation for this year.

Enjolras' parents had now restricted his finances because he and four of the other Amis (Feuilly joining them) were renting a house off-campus together.

"They think it is going to…lead to a certain lifestyle," Enjolras explains, slowly, like he is not quite sure how he wants to word it. His parents are aware he is gay and they just refuse to acknowledge it, but they constantly make indirect references to it. "They basically thinking I'm moving into what will be a non-stop orgy."

"Oooooh!!!" remarks Courfeyrac. "That sounds fun!" Combeferre gives him a look meant to let him know he is not helping and to deter him from speaking further, but Courfeyrac just returns the look with his irresistible megawatt smile. 

"Yeah, well not to my parents," Enjolras mutters. "They don't support me living with four other men because they somehow think that's inappropriate. I'm not sure how it is different from living in an all-male dorm or a fraternity…" he trails off, clearly meaning he knows why they don't want him to live with the other guys but not wanting to say it out loud. 

Grantaire does it for him. "So your parents are refusing to pay for your housing just because they don't want you living with queer dudes?"

Enjolras puts his head down, clearly embarrassed. "Yeah," he says quietly. He looks up after a few moments expecting to find hurt faces from his new roommates. Instead, he finds amused and slightly surprised expressions. 

"So, basically they think we are going to corrupt you?" offers one of his friends wearing one of the amused expressions, Feuilly. 

"Um, do they know there's a straight guy as well?" Marius remarks with an expression somewhere between confusion and hopefulness like he doesn't quite understand the situation but hopes he is offering something helpful.

"I did offer that up at some point during the fight even though it is really none of my parents' business," Enjolras says with clear annoyance on his face.

Everyone is quiet for a few moments, with no one really quite sure what to say, even Grantaire, who can usually offer up a quip when needed. Also, when not needed.

"I'm sorry, dude, that's really lame," Bahorel says, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"They really won't pay for your housing just because you aren't living with straight men?" reiterates an incredulous Jehan, while Marius again opens his mouth to speak, but then thinks better of it and closes it. 

Enjolras says nothing, only looks down at his hands. It's rare to see him this subdued. Although, Grantaire has witnessed it before.

"If it were just he and I, they would still pay. They liked me, once they realized I wasn't trying to seduce their son," Combeferre offers quietly. Enjolras shoots him a look, but Combeferre just shrugs. "I figure we'd mention it at some point, might as well do it now."

"Sorry, but once he saw me, there was no hope for anyone." Courfeyrac's comment lightens the mood as he plants a kiss on his boyfriend's cheek. Combeferre smiles and grabs his hand. Enjolras gives them a fond look.

"Well, Enjolras, if you need to do that so you can keep going to school, we could find two other roommates," Courfeyrac continues slowly, clearly not trying to reveal how much he doesn't want to not live with his boyfriend. Enjolras smiles at him, reminded how lucky he is to have the friends he does.

"No. I will not let them dictate my life," he says with the firm authoritative voice he uses when addressing important issues at meetings. "If I want to have an orgy at our house I will." Courfeyrac lifts his eyebrows with a hopeful look on his face. Combeferre gently kicks him under the table.

"The ironic thing is I was partly doing this to save them money because it is cheaper than living in the dorms or renting a two-bedroom apartment. The five of us splitting that house is pretty affordable, which is actually why I am able to cut ties with them," he explained. The other reason he did it was because he genuinely wanted to live with his friends. He saw them at meetings every week, but was not always able to get out to social events during the rest of the week. "To be honest, I'm actually surprised they didn't put 'not paying for school' on the table as well. However, they do actually give a shit about me getting a degree and know that I'm stubborn enough that I would stop going to school rather than bend to their rules."

Enjolras keeps running his hands through his hair as he speaks out of frustration and has now created a bit of disaster halo around his head. Grantaire would never reveal that he thinks it is absolutely adorable. They don't often get to see Enjolras looking disheveled or out-of-order, which is pretty much Grantaire's aesthetic, so he always enjoys little glimpses that reveal Enjolras is indeed human.

"So what's the new job?" Grantaire asks, trying to shift the conversation away from the current topic. As much as he likes seeing a slightly mussed Enjolras, he absolutely hates seeing him in any kind of distress.

Enjolras immediately turns red again, which intrigues Grantaire, who decides there is no way he is not finding out what his new job is.

"It's nothing. I'm just helping out with one of the departments on campus," he replies. "It's temporary until I find another job. Since my parents didn't spring this on me until a few weeks ago, it was difficult to find a job here since they had already been snatched up by other students."

Grantaire goes to ask which department he is working for, but Combeferre cuts in. "How about we move on to the meeting? It's way past starting time." He is nothing if not diligent in his best friend duties that include knowing when his friend wants to change the topic of conversation.

"Yeah, I don't want to talk about this anymore. It just is what it is. My parents aren't paying for my house and won't budge unless I follow their rules. So I need another job to help pay for expenses and I'm working on solving that problem. Time to move on," he says with a finality that implies to the rest of the group to not even try to bring the topic up again.

*

Grantaire is running across campus. He is late. His job changed his shifts starting this week. While his boss is on paternity leave, his shift changed from Monday and Wednesday evenings to mornings. This means he was going to miss his art class he has on Monday and Wednesday mornings and is now making them up by attending the afternoon session. His boss had not told him that he was changing shifts until school had already started. His professor is fine with this arrangement since it is not permanent. However, he has another class right before this class so he has to again sprint across campus, but will still arrive five minutes late. It is becoming the story of his life.

He sneaks in and slips quietly to an empty station. The reason he is not able to miss class and make up the work on his own is because for the next couple of weeks they are doing life model drawings, so Grantaire needs to be in class so he can actually draw the model. He had tried to get the professor to just let him draw one of his friends. Courfeyrac had been a more than willing participant when he mentioned it before at a Les Amis meeting. It had caused the meeting to start a couple of minutes late again as Courfeyrac started showing poses he could do. Enjolras and Combeferre attempted to look annoyed as they tried to start the meeting, but it is pretty impossible to be annoyed at Courfeyrac, so their glares just came off as fond affection with Combeferre looking at him with complete adoration.

Even though Combeferre was thoughtful and quiet, a somewhat counteract to his boisterous boyfriend, he was completely smitten. He did seem relieved when it was revealed Grantaire had to do his drawing in class and would not, in fact, spend hours staring at his naked boyfriend. "Aw, too bad for you, you know you've wondered about it," Courfeyrac said, wiggling his eyebrows seductively.

"You know me too well," Grantaire had responded with a laugh.

"Well actually, Courf, you wouldn't want him to feel bad about himself," Combeferre had quipped, surprising everybody. Grantaire just looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Now and then Ferre would offer up a comment that would stun people into silence and he would then quietly return to whatever he was working on.

In this particular case, Courfeyrac had turned to him with the biggest grin on his face and shrieked, "did you just tell our friends my dick is huge?" Combeferre's cheeks may have flushed at this but he didn't respond. Courfeyrac spent the rest of the evening with an undeniable look of smugness on his face. Enjolras had looked up at this exchange, his cheeks flushed slightly, but he hurriedly looked back down at his notes and remained silent. Grantaire had not missed that reaction though.

Now in his replacement art class, Grantaire was listening to the professor explain what she wanted from the assignment. They were going to do two different assignments with the same model. The professor explained that this model was kind of perfect for this assignment series and so she had asked him if he would pose for two of them. They were going to be drawing the first assignment and painting the second. Both of the assignments involved drawing the model in the style of a famous Greek God statue. There were specific techniques that the professor was looking for and if they were not included the student's work would be marked down. Grantaire hated this part of studying art in school. He just wanted to create and not have to follow rules. But he had long realized it was no use grumbling about it, not that it stopped him, and he was just going to have to follow their rules until he graduated. He worked on his own stuff in his spare time, including commissions, and that helped remind him why he loved art.

Grantaire is looking down and rummaging through his bag for his favorite pencil, so he does not see when the model enters and is only aware it is time to start when he hears the professor say "Ok class, this is Enjolras, he is going to be our model for the next couple of weeks. Once he gets into his pose, you are free to begin." 

Grantaire's head had snapped up at the mention of Enjolras' name.

_Holy shit._

Grantaire was suddenly staring into the very blue and very shocked eyes of his hopeless crush, Enjolras.


	2. It was a man.

Grantaire darts out of the classroom and bends over to clasp his knees when he reaches the hallway. He needed to leave for a moment to gather himself. _Oh my god. I’m going to have to draw Enjolras naked._  

“Well, I guess I know what his new job is,” He says quietly out loud.

_What did I do to deserve this?_ “Actually, let’s not go there,” he responds to himself.

After a small pep talk and a few deep breaths, he tries to slip back into the classroom undetected. Since the room is full of quiet concentration, he is unsuccessful.

“Everything ok?” His professor asks. Everyone, but the model, who seems determined not to, looks his way.

“Yep, just needed to get some water for my cough,” Grantaire hurriedly replies. He sits down, anxious to begin and blend back into the background. Everything usually falls away for him when he draws. However, when he looks up to start, he is reminded that is unlikely to happen this time.

To further his discomfort, he realizes Enjolras is a little too blurry for him to accurately capture his details. _Sigh. This really is punishment for something_. He pulls out his glasses case and puts his glasses on. He is terrible about putting in his contacts, but hates wearing his glasses all day, so he usually ends up using them only when necessary.

The Greek god they are drawing today is Ares. To Grantaire’s appreciation, Enjolras does not need to be fully nude for this drawing. He is covered at the waist, and is also wearing a slightly ridiculous ancient Greek helmet replica. _He must hate this so much._

As Grantaire settles into that familiarity of sketching his new subject, he can’t help but notice how Enjolras is holding himself. Even though the model is suppose to look off in the distance and not at anyone in particular, it still feels like he is deliberately avoiding any recognition that Grantaire is in the room with him. _There’s no way I can go to the meeting tomorrow._

One of Grantaire’s curls falls into his eyes and on reflex he blows at it. It makes a louder than intended noise that causes most of the people in the room to briefly look his way. _Could I draw any more attention to myself today?_ Grantaire pretends not to notice and stares intently at Enjolras instead, but he notices that Enjolras’ cheeks now look like cotton candy _. I want to bite them._ Grantaire suppresses a groan. He does not need to be thinking about that. _Thanks goodness Enjolras isn’t fully naked for this session._

Grantaire has to suppress a laugh when he starts to sketch Enjolras’ face. He could probably draw it in his sleep to perfection. He has spent many hours staring at it, usually unnoticed while Enjolras spoke in meetings. It was easy to get away with ogling under the guise of watching a person speak. 

When Grantaire moves on to the more unfamiliar part of Enjolras’ torso he feels his face heat as he concentrates on contouring his pecs and abs. They were sitting close enough, that with his glasses, he could see that Enjolras has a mole near his belly button. _I missed that before._ He feels his professor come up behind him. “Do you need me to open a window? Is it too warm in here?” He was pretty sure she was being sincere and not making fun of him, but he wasn’t one hundred percent sure. He hoped it was the former. Coming across as someone who couldn’t look at a half-naked body without blushing would be a bit mortifying.

The two hours pass quicker than Grantaire anticipated and before he knows it, the professor lets them know the class has ended. Enjolras quickly rises and puts his robe on and leaves the room. Grantaire thinks _Same_. He could not leave this room quick enough. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to go for a run or to go jerk-off. Unfortunately, his decision is delayed, as he has to take a couple of minutes to clean his station and put away his in-progress drawing. If you left your station messy before leaving class, you received docked points on your assignments.

Finally he is able to grab his bag and head out. He walks quickly to the door and speeds past two people in front of him to get out of the room. Immediately he smacks into something the moment he steps into the hallway. 

“Oof.” The stationary object makes a noise indicating it is a person.

_Oh for fuck’s sake._ It’s Enjolras. He is waiting for him. _Of course he is_. Grantaire shouldn’t be surprised, Enjolras likes to confront things head on.

Enjolras stutters for a moment, before settling on the standard, “Hi.” 

“Hey,” Grantaire responds.

Silence follows.

“So, this is the elusive job then?” Grantaire breaks the uncomfortable quiet.

Enjolras offers a casual shrug. “Yeah.”

If Enjolras was gong to continue with one-word responses this was going to be an even more awkward conversation than it already is. Grantaire opens his mouth to speak before knowing what he is going to say, which is never a good idea, but Enjolras saves him from himself and continues speaking.

“I get paid twenty-five dollars an hour. It seems like it will work for the time being until I can find another job. Supplemented with my work at the Musain, I can make rent this month and still eat.”

“So, how did you get this gig?” Grantaire is genuinely curious, as he couldn’t imagine Enjolras actively searching for a modeling job.

“I saw a flyer on campus the week I got back. I emailed about it and they hadn’t filled the spot yet, so I decided to do it. When I went in to speak to the professor, she was very enthusiastic about it.” He shrugs ~~.~~ Enjolras has never had any shame or lack of awareness about knowing people like how he looks.

“I did actually make sure I was modeling for a class that didn’t include you,” he continued. They all give their schedules to the Les Amis leadership (Enjolras, Combeferre, Courfeyrac) at the beginning of the school year so that everyone is aware of availability for meetings, events, etc. This meant that Enjolras knew Grantaire was taking the class and thought he was safe by making sure he was in the class he was not in. “But I guess I got it wrong…”

Grantaire realizes he isn’t suppose to be hurt by Enjolras actively avoiding his class, he know it’s awkward, yet he still kind of is. “I’m actually not supposed to be in this class. I have to go to it because my work schedule changed. It’s not for the whole semester though.”

“I think it’s too late for me to switch to another class…” Enjolras starts to say, clearly interpreting Grantaire’s comments as him not wanting to draw Enjolras.

“NO!” Grantaire interrupts a little too loudly. “I’m completely fine with you here,” he lies. “I just don’t want you to be uncomfortable. I basically have to stare at you for hours while I draw you naked. It is more awkward for you than me, I think.”

Enjolras shrugs again. “People always stare. I’m use to that.”

Enjolras has a way of saying things that would sound narcissistic coming from anyone else, but come across as charming when said by him. It was part of his appeal. He is aware of how he looks and how people respond to it. He also isn’t necessarily against using it to his advantage. For the greater good, of course, as he would tell you.

“I just meant…” He trailed off. Grantaire understood.

“That I will be staring at and drawing your dick?”

Enjolras gave a small smile indicating that is exactly what he was thinking. “I wasn’t sure if it would be weird to see me naked in class and then have to go to the meetings and be able to see me in a more professional capacity.”

“I doubt it’s changed much,” Grantaire lives up to his ability to say the incorrect thing at the incorrect time.

That finally causes Enjolras to stop speaking and he immediately turns the color of his coat and looks down at his feet.

_Damnit. @ Me- why do you do this to yourself?_

“I mean, I always respect you.”

“Yeah, right.”

“I don’t always AGREE with you, but I respect you.” 

“You sometimes have a funny way of showing it.” 

“Well, that’s part of my charm.”

“What’s the other part?”

“Ouch.”

They had been walking as they talked and were now outside. The weather had stated to change, so there was a crisp autumn chill in the air. Grantaire expected them to say their goodbyes and head their separate ways, but Enjolras was hesitating.

Grantaire accurately guessed Enjolras wanted him to ask a question, so he obliged. “Is something else bothering you?” 

Enjolras sighs and then says, “It’s just…” There's that uncharacteristic hesitation again. 

“Enjolras, what’s up?” Grantaire nudges.

Enjolras looks at him and says. “Do you think people are…” He seems at a loss for words. Again, this was not typical Enjolras conversation. Grantaire really wasn’t sure what was bothering him, so he couldn’t help guide him to the question.

Grantaire gently touches Enjolras’ shoulder and says, “I won’t tell anyone what you ask me.” 

“Do you think our friends think less of me because of what happened?” 

What happened…was he talking about his parents? “You think people are judging you for being financially cut off?!”

“It’s just…I’m suppose to be this leader who fights injustice and discrimination and I can’t even win a fight with my parents…it’s embarrassing.”

Grantaire looks directly in to Enjolras’ eyes. “Enjolras, people understand not winning fights against parents.”

Recognition appears in Enjolras’ eyes. He understands Grantaire’s subtext.

Grantaire continues speaking, “I can promise you, without a doubt, that not one of our friends thinks any less of you because of your parents’ dumbass rules. In fact, I guarantee that we see what we always see in our leader, someone willing to stand up and do what he can to fight back against bullshit. If anything, you probably gained more of their respect, if that’s possible.”

The sincerity in this conversation seems to hit them at the same time. They hadn’t spoken like this in a long time.

“Thanks, R.” Enjolras never uses his nickname. This actually pushes Grantaire into silence. He starts to wonder if Enjolras will test and see if this works in the meetings as well.

They both seemed unsure what to do next. So Grantaire gives them an out and says he needs to head to his next class.

Enjolras starts to walk away but then stops and turns around, “Oh, by the way,” he says. “Your wouldn’t feel bad about yourself.”

Grantaire stops and stares as Enjolras turns back around and continues on his way. He is well aware he is standing by himself, staring with a big goofy grin on his face, but who cares, Enjolras had just complimented the size of his dick. 

He’s pretty sure if anyone was paying attention, they saw him strut his way across campus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Sorry it took so long to update! It won't be that long until the next one.
> 
> As always, you can find me at a-dreamer-and-a-cynic on tumblr!


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